The Starmer government’s hopes of restoring relations with Europe have mostly remained just that.
Forget the pageantry, the open-top carriage, and the royal welcome in the Windsor sunshine. The state visit to the United Kingdom of French President Emmanuel Macron will be remembered as British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s “surrender summit.” So declared the Daily Telegraph, a previously sensible Conservative paper, indulging in the standard genuflection of the British media whenever Europe is concerned.
If he had been made aware of the headline, Starmer would have done nothing more than shrug his shoulders. He might have appreciated the alliteration but little else.